Suspected burglar nabbed by off-duty cops

Two off-duty police officers tackled a suspected burglar Sunday night who had allegedly just broken into a downtown Ukiah clothing store.

Louis Torres, chief of the Coyote Valley Reservation Police Department, said he was in Ukiah around 9:30 p.m. Oct. 6 with Officer Greg Salisbury when they saw a man running across West Standley Street with an armload of clothing that was still attached to hangers.

"It turned out to be a smash and grab," Torres said, explaining that the hangers immediately caught the officers' attention, then they began pursuing the man after witnesses reported a man had broken out a window of Boutique 120 and taken items.

Torres said the man then dropped the clothes and ran out of his sight, but Salisbury caught up to him and "tackled him, and we put him in restraints."

Less than a minute later, officers from the Ukiah Police Department arrived and placed the suspect under arrest after receiving several 911 calls about the burglary.

Guadalupe Garcia Jr., 18, of Ukiah, was arrested at 10:07 p.m. on suspicion of burglary, grand theft, conspiracy and vandalism causing $400 or more worth of damage.

Torres said he and Salisbury "felt obligated" to help, adding that fighting crime while off-duty "seems to be my luck," since Sunday's incident was not the first time he stepped in while technically not on the job.